I know thread drift here is sort of a given, and it's always led me to some very good information, but I didn't want to drag GWarden's thread into the weeds too far when this idea struck me. GWarden is the inspiration for this thread. We got off on a tangent about coffee cans (plastic) a while back and I can't even remember the original poster or what he wanted to share, so....
Whether we call it "green," "up-cycling," "recycling," "repurposing," "saving the planet" or just being cheap or innovative, we come up with some great ideas. I have a reputation in my household for running salvage operations as I load recyclables just to cart them off and toss them into a dumpster. After a few decades of this, my wife and daughters always check with me before they toss any decent-looking empty container - why not? Dad's going to dig it back out anyway.
I have purchased products, which I disposed of immediately, just to get the cool container. I have a couple boxes of recyclables I haven't yet found a use for but were too good to throw away. I don't know that this absolutely HAS to be for casting, reloading, shooting or gunsmithing, but that's what's on my mind at the moment. I (we all) re-use lots of containers for lots of other things, but each container is first vetted for its shooting-related usefulness before being assigned some other utility.
What ideas are you using which you would be willing to share with the rest of us for the sake of saving the planet (or saving money)?
Photos are always a plus.
1) Lead: Nasty ol' wild-life-killin' lead. I scrounge every last bit of it I can find and even recover as much as possible of it which I use myself.
2) Brass: Not so dangerous but a valuable commodity which should not be buried in a landfill and denied to future generations.
3) Plastic: (look up the recycling symbol and cross-reference what some things came in originally)*
Coffee cans - big ones for brass and small ones for bullets;
Sour cream/yogurt containers - mostly for bullets;
Die Boxes - just about anything
35mm film containers - becoming rare, but small parts, greases, earplug storage, especially the translucent ones;
Bullet Boxes (store-bought bullets) - just about anything that will fit, like charge bushings, bullet sizing dies, even bullets;
Small hand sanitizer bottles - Ed's Red, other solvents
NEW** (NOT recycled) quart motor oil bottles for breaking down 8# containers of powder - remember to transfer all pertinent data to the oil bottle.
Document folder covers which make excellent shim/filler material and can be thermo-formed to make things like spent primer deflectors;
Primer Trays - I saw someone using them for lubed/sized 22 cal bullets;
Snuff cans - Fit Home made or old surplus pull-through bore cleaning cords and several eyes, brushes, mops and patches;
Rattle-can lids are great "caps" for shipping barrels and scopes in a tube.
Glass: I tend to avoid this one because my shop and garage floors are concrete and in a collision, concrete always wins;
Steel: Oh, so useful!
Trendy lip balm and hand cream comes in some very nice, durable containers for all kinds of stuff;
Percussion Cap containers - small parts like extra revolver parts, decapping pins, etc.
Aluminum: Again - SO useful!
Almond cans and cat food cans. Use your imagination and look for the durable, plastic cat food container lids sold right next to the caned cat food;
Cigar Tubes - I don't get a lot of these, but the 50 ring gauge (and up) can fit certain extra-portable segmented cleaning rod sections.
Rubber:
You can make a BUNCH of super-useful rubber bands ("Ranger Bands") from one inner tube. I actually buy a new one every ten years or so for this;
Car, truck or tractor inner tubes provide large patches of "gasket" material.
Foam:
Sleeping mats for camping provide several square feet of excellent padding which can be easily cut to size and glued up with spray adhesive;
Any other foam can inspire any number of other ideas, including packaging for shipping barrels or whole firearms.
*I called US Plastics once and asked about specific chemicals that were OK for certain plastic compositions and they were very nice and very helpful.
**They also sell tons of neat stuff which has not already been used.
Whether we call it "green," "up-cycling," "recycling," "repurposing," "saving the planet" or just being cheap or innovative, we come up with some great ideas. I have a reputation in my household for running salvage operations as I load recyclables just to cart them off and toss them into a dumpster. After a few decades of this, my wife and daughters always check with me before they toss any decent-looking empty container - why not? Dad's going to dig it back out anyway.
I have purchased products, which I disposed of immediately, just to get the cool container. I have a couple boxes of recyclables I haven't yet found a use for but were too good to throw away. I don't know that this absolutely HAS to be for casting, reloading, shooting or gunsmithing, but that's what's on my mind at the moment. I (we all) re-use lots of containers for lots of other things, but each container is first vetted for its shooting-related usefulness before being assigned some other utility.
What ideas are you using which you would be willing to share with the rest of us for the sake of saving the planet (or saving money)?
Photos are always a plus.
1) Lead: Nasty ol' wild-life-killin' lead. I scrounge every last bit of it I can find and even recover as much as possible of it which I use myself.
2) Brass: Not so dangerous but a valuable commodity which should not be buried in a landfill and denied to future generations.
3) Plastic: (look up the recycling symbol and cross-reference what some things came in originally)*
Coffee cans - big ones for brass and small ones for bullets;
Sour cream/yogurt containers - mostly for bullets;
Die Boxes - just about anything
35mm film containers - becoming rare, but small parts, greases, earplug storage, especially the translucent ones;
Bullet Boxes (store-bought bullets) - just about anything that will fit, like charge bushings, bullet sizing dies, even bullets;
Small hand sanitizer bottles - Ed's Red, other solvents
NEW** (NOT recycled) quart motor oil bottles for breaking down 8# containers of powder - remember to transfer all pertinent data to the oil bottle.
Document folder covers which make excellent shim/filler material and can be thermo-formed to make things like spent primer deflectors;
Primer Trays - I saw someone using them for lubed/sized 22 cal bullets;
Snuff cans - Fit Home made or old surplus pull-through bore cleaning cords and several eyes, brushes, mops and patches;
Rattle-can lids are great "caps" for shipping barrels and scopes in a tube.
Glass: I tend to avoid this one because my shop and garage floors are concrete and in a collision, concrete always wins;
Steel: Oh, so useful!
Trendy lip balm and hand cream comes in some very nice, durable containers for all kinds of stuff;
Percussion Cap containers - small parts like extra revolver parts, decapping pins, etc.
Aluminum: Again - SO useful!
Almond cans and cat food cans. Use your imagination and look for the durable, plastic cat food container lids sold right next to the caned cat food;
Cigar Tubes - I don't get a lot of these, but the 50 ring gauge (and up) can fit certain extra-portable segmented cleaning rod sections.
Rubber:
You can make a BUNCH of super-useful rubber bands ("Ranger Bands") from one inner tube. I actually buy a new one every ten years or so for this;
Car, truck or tractor inner tubes provide large patches of "gasket" material.
Foam:
Sleeping mats for camping provide several square feet of excellent padding which can be easily cut to size and glued up with spray adhesive;
Any other foam can inspire any number of other ideas, including packaging for shipping barrels or whole firearms.
*I called US Plastics once and asked about specific chemicals that were OK for certain plastic compositions and they were very nice and very helpful.
**They also sell tons of neat stuff which has not already been used.
